1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to optical systems; particularly, to optical systems for miniature cameras.
2. Related Art
Miniature cameras are currently available with many electronic devices, such as cellular telephones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like. Miniature cameras are also available as stand-alone devices for applications such as security and surveillance
The market for miniature cameras is rapidly expanding. For example, camera-equipped cell phones were unheard of just a few years ago; now, they are a significant portion of the cell phone market.
High resolution cell phone cameras (2 million or more pixels) generally use at least one glass lens and at least one plastic lens. Glass lenses for miniature cameras have a relatively high manufacturing cost compared to plastic lenses, due to their small size and high accuracy requirements.